Facebook has continuously been growing since its inception . Recently competition from Google in form of Google + has forced Facebook to bring in many changes. Since the f8 conference these radical changes have been the part of Facebook no matter the users are liking it or not. Timeline, ticker, subscribe , photo viewer etc have all been in the queue to present Facebook profile we use.

Switching from old profile to the new one seemed to be a problem from many with ” How to disable timeline ” being the most searched and talked about query these days. Timeline has been forced to all the profiles with users left with no option than to get used to it. Most recent change is that Timeline has been incorporated even in Facebook pages as well. Users can switch now or their pages will automatically turn to timeline view by 30th March. I have changed my Facebook page to timeline view so that i can judge and share with the my users the advantages and disadvantages of your Facebook pages.

Disadvantages :

No Landing Tabs : As in the older version one was able to make a welcome landing page for any one who came to our page for the first time. This made it more easy for us to make our users involved with us by designing the landing page ourselves. But with timeline being a part of our Facebook page, every new user to the page would see our timeline cover for the page i.e there are no landing pages in the new design.

So only way out is to make your cover photo speak for you by making it as well as you can. So its the cover photo that will tell your story. So you may be thinking of putting up something catchy like ” look below for the best news on Facebook ” . I will not suggest this. Which brings me too the next disadvantage.

Do Not Make Advertisements Through Your Cover Image : With the new design being mandatory from 3oth March ( though you can switch now ), your cover image is going to tell your story. but make sure your cover image does not look like a advertisement banner. Too catchy or promotional stuff filled cover image does not look cool. Do not add contact information, web address and emails to to your cover image.

It is the best to experiment, choose something unique, descriptive and see the reactions. We strongly advise not to use any written indications of your business, unless it is your company name.

Advantages :

Pin To Top : With the change in style , a new feature that has been added to the pages is Pin To Top. If u want to advertise a post or want a story to be highlighted then you can pin it to the the top. The post will remain at the top for a week and after that it will go to its respective place according to the date it was published on the page. It’s best to pin something that includes pictures, since they are larger, and they can refer to your story.

How to pin :

After Pinning :

To have a better effect use more images and highlight the images by clicking on the star on the right side top . This will spread the image across your timeline matching the size of the cover photo.

Messages : This i think is the most beautiful part of the new design. Now your fans in addition to publishing on your wall can also message you directly their queries which was not possible in the old design. This will keep your fans more interested in your page and will give them a feeling of being a little special.

Please share your views about the timeline design for the pages in form of comments.